Masquerade
by Orange-Moon-Goddess
Summary: [Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you await.] Rose Garden soulmates!AU. Oscar is a farmhand who has been having strange dreams as of late. A masquerade, a girl in a red rose petal dress. Dare he follow the dream and discover the identity of the girl at the masquerade? Or, will it remain a dream as beautiful as it is transient?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: First story in a while! Just want to say that for this fic, Ozpin and Oscar are in separate bodies. I literally wrote this in one sitting and have no idea if I want to continue. But if I happen to write more, I will share. Enjoy!

-StrawberryMoon-

It was a scene of a ballroom he had never physically been to that frequented Oscar Pine in his dreams. A high-vaulted ceiling appeared to be spinning as the ghostly courtiers danced across the reflective floor. It was like walking across the surface of an ocean at midnight. Dark and reflective, he would see a rose floating farther away from him. Passing through the thick of the crowd was like wading through water; it was impossible to close the distance between them. Then a clock would chime from somewhere and he would forget.

That dream repeated itself intermittently for weeks before he began to remember it in his waking. With the fleeting moon and rising of the sun each day, he retained a piece of the puzzle each time before it formed the scene. The first time he remembered a chunk of it, Oscar sat up in his bed with a bewildered expression. He held on to the memory, wondering where that place was, and why he wanted to see _that_ again.

His head buzzed with indescribable desires as he completed his work on his aunt's farm. The strawberry fields needed mulching and watering, and he was more than incentivized to tend to the rows. The bodies of the fruits were still forming but were showing hints of pink already. The June weather predicted in the almanac gave the future harvest good prospects; he just needed to guide their development until then.

Every so often he would daydream about the memory. Oscar liked to imagine himself in the role of a prominent courtier or high-ranking official who had accepted an invitation to the mysterious palace of his dreams. He might fantasize about being wrapped up in some political intrigue or pursuing some courtly love. Those were the kinds of things that the nobles in the cities did; they donned fine garb for the evening and feasted on fancy finger foods between dances. Who wouldn't want to be in the middle of that excitement?

Yet the fantasy remained internalized. He was just a farmhand. It was impossible for someone of his status to be invited to such an occasion. He belonged to no royal lineage, had no riches, and lacked the proper etiquette to attend any upper-class events. Bluntly put, he was poorly equipped to go anywhere near. Maybe in the future as an employee, he told himself, if just to inch closer to the ideal.

The dream itself, however, became real. As Oscar watered the strawberry fields in a sweltering heat, the haze perhaps triggered a vision. Or maybe it was the tint of red of the strawberries. The rows of plants were replaced by smooth flooring, and ghostly images of elaborately dressed people waltzed around him in a room that closely resembled the place from his dreams. The sun and the heat were replaced by the golden light of a ballroom, chandeliers glittering overhead. He dropped his watering can, afraid that he was having a heat stroke. But when he looked down at where he dropped what he was holding, he saw that his attire had transformed into that of a white tuxedo, lined velvet red from the inside.

"What?…" dumbfounded, he stood on the outskirts of the dancefloor. The lucid imagery left him speechless, unsure of what to do. Beside him stood a man with grayed hair and a green suit, supported by his cane. He first saw a strange mask with gears on it— and then the man turned his head at him.

"Tonight is a special night," he said with an amused smirk, "do you really want to spend this occasion being a wallflower?"

"H-huh?" Oscar took a step back. Was this real, or a hallucination of the heat? Regardless, he responded as though he were actually there. "I can't dance. Don't make me go out there!"

"She's waiting for you," the man gave a cryptic response. His voice was low, and full of meaning. These words meant something to Oscar. As to why he couldn't figure out. "You should go to her."

The interaction was too bizarre for him to continue. Oscar's gaze directed itself back towards the center of the room, moving on its own. And there, that was when he saw the final piece of his puzzle.

Scarlet petals scattered in the air from above and the masked dancers twirled around in a red whirlwind. His hand reached out to touch, only to realize that it was an illusion. When he lowered his gloved hand, across the dance floor, he spotted a girl in a rose petal ballgown. She was about his age, perhaps a couple years older. Her face obscured by a veil and elaborate mask, he only remembered thinking that she looked like a precious rose.

And then, he was back on his aunt's farm and holding an emptied watering can.

-StrawberryMoon-

End Notes: TBC. I was heavily inspired by The Evil Within and Bloodborne, but note that this is not intended to be of the horror genre. I know this is kind of early to be shipping these two, but the ship name is pretty darn cool. Rose Garden? Honestly, I love the names that fandom creates. I'm undecided on how this will develop, but I might include ships like Bumblebee ( _edit_ : as an example, still undecided), etc. I don't actually know all the ship names. But I think most of them are adorable. If I think a ship enhances the overall themes of the story, then I will include it but not focus on it.

Also, disclaimer, I don't know a thing about farming. But hey, leave a comment if you have any suggestions/feedback/or you just liked what I pitched in the prologue. I'm definitely interested in sharing more.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed so far!

-StrawberryMoon-

Ozpin's office and the surrounding area were often occupied at strange hours. As the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, he was responsible for maintaining a smooth operation at his school and directing his staff when his guidance was needed. He was a man of many responsibilities, but the one he was dealing with today was not in his usual scope of responsibility.

Student admissions were typically managed by other staff. But, these were special cases; he simply could not allow anyone else to handle this matter. They would not understand.

Ozpin was not only different from the rest of his staff because of his position as Headmaster. Quite bluntly, he accomplished something that few other souls had on Remnant: he had, as result of finding his soulmate, unlocked one of many... unique manifestations of power, specific to both his soul and his soulmate's. Unfortunately, that bond had since broken. Fortunately, his ability survived despite that. Their ability provided valuable insight, and as a bonus sometimes even... reached across time to show him glimpses of the relevant future from behind an unconscious veil.*

It was for that reason that, at the dead hours of the night, he had summoned a teacher from Signal Academy to a secondary office of his. Aside from being a teacher, the man was one of Ozpin's own associates. The motion-activated lights marked the arrival of a tall blond man in casual clothing and a smaller figure: his daughter. The dark-haired girl's silver eyes met his and she gave an uncertain greeting. The third guest was nowhere to be seen, not quite late but not early like these two were.

"It's good to see you again, Tai," Ozpin smiled at his former student. "I'm sorry to call you and your family out here so late. I promise I will not keep the three of you here long."

Taiyang Xiao Long's eyes narrowed with disapproval as he glanced towards the door. The lights in the hallway turned back off, and the door remained open. "Yeah, well. If only all of us shared the same sentiment," he said bitterly.

"It's fine," said his daughter, Ruby Rose. She smiled awkwardly through the growing tension and looked to Ozpin as if asking for help. "Um, this is about my admission into the academy, right? Normally this kind of thing happens during the day…"

Reading the mood, Ozpin quickly changed the subject. He'd rehearsed this conversation in his head several times and believed that he now knew the best way to approach it. In translation: be blunt.

"Right," he said and cleared his throat. This was going to be unbelievably awkward. "Why don't the two of you take a seat in the meantime?"

Tai and Ruby both claimed two of the three seats prepared in front of his desk. Ruby went straight to the middle chair, leaving her father to choose one of the two remaining. He sat down on the right, which was the farthest seat from the door.

"…" Ozpin hesitated, looking first to Ruby, and then her father. The man was clearly still in a bad mood; that might making dropping the bomb even more difficult. "Um."

"Soooo," Ruby cringed when a considerable silence had passed. Tai had folded his arms across his chest and was glaring at the corner of the room. "I'm enrolling to be a Huntress. Should we start with that?"

"Ah, yes," Ozpin nodded. "One who protects others who cannot fend for themselves. You did excellent in proving yourself worthy of an early admission. Mr. Xiao Long, you have a very gifted daughter."

He was hoping that by praising Ruby, that the father would respond positively and rejoin the conversation. Tai's expression softened but his mouth stretched into a tight line. He simply nodded, and Ozpin knew that he was on thin ice. Behind them, the hallway lights activated. No one else noticed but they were not joined by anyone. He mentally prepared himself yet again before he spoke.

"As a talented and driven young individual, it would be in everyone's best interests if she discovered the identity of her soulmate," Ozpin said, and instantly regretted opening his mouth.

"Her WHAT?" Tai instantly sprang up from his chair, knocking it back with his force. Ozpin picked up his favorite mug and took a sip. Behind them, the lights remained on in the hallway. "It's too early for her to be dating and getting insane abilities. She has enough to worry about, what with inheriting her mom's-"

Tai cut himself off upon accidentally mentioning his late partner. Ozpin, spared from the wrath of an overprotective father, swallowed his drink and set the mug back down. Ruby was startled and unaware of what her father had been getting at, but both Tai and Ozpin were well aware of what was being referenced. Specifically, the abilities unique only to those with silver eyes.

"My… soulmate?" She looked at the headmaster warily. There were many misconceptions about soulmates, no thanks to the media's perpetuation of myths surrounding the system. For example, assuming that a person's soulmate was destined to be their romantic and or sexual partner.

"A soulmate may be one of the many important bonds you create during your lifetime," Ozpin patiently explained. Tai was still standing and as a Hunter himself, Ozpin noticed that his hands were in the shape of fists. Thin. Ice. "They may be a lover, your best friend, or even your worst enemy. Maybe all three— and what a turbulent relationship that would be, wouldn't it?" He was joking, but it wasn't unheard of for a person to be so unfortunate. "Regardless, a soulmate is simply one who enables or drives you into reaching your full potential. You could interpret this figuratively, but what most people don't realize is that meeting your soulmate unlocks a rather formidable power accessible to the two involved in a pairing."

This explanation soothed Tai's initial outrage. He took a deep breath, turned around while tapping his foot and exhaled. When he was ready, he muttered an apology and sat back down beside Ruby.

"Please refrain from spreading this information outside of this circle," Ozpin requested both of them. Although Tai already knew since, miraculously, all four of team STRQ turned out to be each other's soulmates, this was absolutely not common knowledge to the public. This was definitely news for Ruby, whose silver eyes were widened.

"I read a book once about soulmates," Ruby began. She broke eye contact with them as she recalled a memory. "It was a fairytale," she said with a smile. "When the protagonist was lost out on the sea after a storm, he heard a voice calling out to him. He believed he was being lured into a trap by a Siren, but he couldn't resist and discovered ship wreckage not to shortly after. There, he met his soulmate floating adrift, and together their power parted the waters in half to lead them safely back to shore."

"The tale of _The Suitor of the Sea_ ," Ozpin recalled. That fairy tale was actually a real one. But he didn't say that. "Yes, that was an example of Thalassokinesis at work.** Often, the nature of the power is determined by a… joining, shall we say, of the pair's Auras. Much like how a person's Semblance is said to be a representation of the self, the power resulting from a pairing is the representation of the two souls combined. There is no official name for it, but those who know of its existence refer to the power as a _Union_."

"Does the Union become inaccessible when the partner passes away?" When Ruby asked this, her eyes strayed towards Tai.

"No," Ozpin saved Tai from having to speak. Just as quickly, Ruby looked away from her father. "In fact, you only need to meet your soulmate once in your life for you to be able to draw upon that power. This may happen when you pass them on the street, although, it is stronger when used together and may even evolve as your relationship progresses."

"You would be surprised by how rare it is for this to occur though," Tai finally broke in. He faced Ruby, taking on the tone that a teacher might use with a student. "Statistically, the chance of you meeting your soulmate is rare- save for a few exceptions. That's why popular media invests so much attention into a reality that seems like a fantasy. Films on the subject tend to be high-grossing because the producers know exactly what the public wants. If you think about it, it's in their interests to perpetuate misconceptions. Actual soulmates don't always experience epic love stories, but if the public knew that, then the entertainment industry would need to think of new ways to bait in customers. From a business perspective, soulmates mean easy money."

"Oh." Ruby looked down at her hands. "But it's still possible, right? For love and those kinds of things to happen."

She had started to fidget and a tinge of pink flushed her face. Ozpin smiled fondly at that; this girl had a romantic way of viewing the world.

"You will have to discover that yourself," Ozpin said. Then, he leaned forward into the desk and folded his own hands in front of him. They were starting to go on a tangent. "Ruby, you may not know it yet, but you have vast potential as a Huntress and defender of the realm. As your father mentioned, the probability of a person going about their life regularly and meeting their soulmate is rather low— beneath one percent, even. But it's not _impossible_."

Their eyes met across the desk. Ruby didn't ask what he meant by potential, but she trusted him enough to give her ear to his proposal.

"What… I would like to do, with your permission, is to help you meet your soulmate. I can't explain how at the moment, but I had a vision of you and another creating what most would hail as a miracle," he said, and there was a silence. He took this as his cue to continue. "There are no solid details that I can provide just yet. I only saw glimpses of what could be-"

"Was she safe?" Tai interrupted. He was aware of Ozpin's occasional visions. As he cut in, a shadow slunk in through the open doorway. Ozpin lifted his head to acknowledge Qrow Branwen, one of his most trusted associates and somewhat uncle to Ruby Rose. After he stepped into the room, the hallway lights shut off once more since the reveal of the conversation's topic.

His face was blank when he joined them, but he cracked a smile when Ruby shot up from her seat and charged at him. She jumped onto his arm, giving him the warmest hug imaginable. The force of the hug sent them twirling for a bit, and rose petals materialized after her. Qrow briefly returned the embrace and lowered her to the ground, ruffling her hair before approaching the desk with a hand raised in greeting.

"Hey," he nodded cooly, and Tai's scowl entered the room with him. Ruby quickly cleaned up the rose petals and put them in the trash bin. Then, she closed the door after them and it automatically locked. The door had been left open while Ozpin waited for them to gather here, as the room was otherwise inaccessible during the night hours. With everyone present, Ruby made a point of sitting in between the two adults.

"You're late," Tai grumbled. It was fortunate that Ruby acted as a wall between them; they were clearly not on good terms with each other.

"So, what's with this odd little party?" Qrow gestured to all of them together in the office. He raised his eyebrow and teasingly nudged Ruby with his elbow. "What'd you do, kiddo? I thought I saw you on the news earlier this week. Did you start a fire or something?"

"No, that's Yang," Ruby giggled.

"Right," Qrow drawled, then gave a noncommittal shrug. Although he was the last to enter, his response caused Ozpin to suspect that he had been loitering outside of the office, listening in on their conversation. That would explain why the motion-activated lights took so long to deactivate. He must have been pacing in the hallway, processing the information without the other two around to witness.

"We're here about Ozpin's proposal. He had a vision," he said, but Qrow showed no surprise.

"Oh, so, we're _not_ doing the paperwork for her transfer?" Qrow smirked. Tai groaned, and Ruby chuckled, although both were unaware that the man was most likely messing with them and stalling the conversation.

"Qrow," Ozpin said sternly, and Qrow adjusted his sitting position to face forward. He didn't look happy to be here. "If this were normal paperwork, I would have summoned Ruby and her biological father only during the _daytime_ ," he pointed out, causing the Branwen to drop the attitude. "I can assure you that I have called the three of you here for less trivial reasons."

Qrow withheld his otherwise guaranteed snarky response. Tai didn't.

"You would probably just be out drinking if that was the case," he rolled his eyes. Qrow snapped his head at him but didn't refute that.

"Um, Uncle Qrow," Ruby piped up. "Professor Ozpin said we're here to discuss me finding my soulmate. He had a vision of me doing something. Um." Her brows furrowed together before she smiled sheepishly. "Uhh, what was it again? You didn't say what I was doing."

Ozpin wanted to tell her, but that would have to be for another time. Truth be told, he had seen the vision many times in the past month, but the details did not always stick with him. Even now, he had been unable to recall seeing drifting rose petals until Ruby had run at her uncle. Likewise, he hadn't even known the dream was about Ruby until he met her for the first time. He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. The vision had left quite a haunting impression on him.

"A flash of… silver," he answered, but it could only come off as cryptic to Ruby. Although he saw it in a dream, the light was blinding. "You met with him. And then it was like the Heavens opened up, it was so _bright_."

"Him?" Ruby repeated. Beside her, Qrow and Tai exchanged anxious looks.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Rose," Ozpin apologized, and he meant it. "I can't remember his face or name. But it is imperative that we find you your soulmate."

"But, how do I do that if the odds are so low?" Ruby asked quietly. As a professor, Ozpin could tell that this was starting to overwhelm her.

When he first made the connections, he had known it was his duty to guide the girl in the right direction. Without looking up, he promised, "Don't worry. Your daughter will be safe."

Tai let out a sigh of relief. Qrow's feet shifted on the ground, while Ruby herself clutched her cape with nervous fingers.

"Ruby herself will go on about her school life as normal," Ozpin said. "I wouldn't want to interfere with her studies. But, with the permission of her and her family, I would like for my staff to observe her and occasionally arrange meetings with potential… shall we say, candidates."

"Didn't know you were into matchmaking," came Qrow's sarcasm. He stretched out his legs before him, thinking over the proposal as he scratched his head. "Ugh. Do you even have to ask for my permission? Ask Tai, _he's_ the father."

"Qrow. This is a family matter," Tai stressed, but Qrow wasn't hearing it and made angry gestures with his hands.

"Then shouldn't Yang also be here? While we're at it, _why not my sister too_. I'm sure she would _love_ to be here."

"Alright, that's-"

" _Enough!_ " Ruby raised her voice and the bickering stopped. "It should be enough if I consent, right? I think finding my soulmate and unlocking this Union, or whatever it is, will help me become a better Huntress. If we have to, we can even tell Yang about this. But as my family, if you're too worried about my safety, I won't do it."

By now, the expressions on both men had dropped hostility and resembled something close to guilt. A few moments passed but then, begrudgingly, they relented.

"Fine," they said in unison.

That was all Ozpin needed to hear. "Thank you," he said, then checked the clock. It was three in the morning. "It is quite late; we can discuss this in greater detail when the time comes. Until then, do try to keep this matter discreet."

Ruby yawned and stood from her chair. "Alright! Will do, sir," she said. Tai stood with her, his expression changing to panic when he saw the time.

"Ah, shoot, I have to be at work early today." He looked to Qrow. "Would you mind dropping her off at the house? There's a teacher's conference. Attendance is mandatory. Should be the same for Beacon, right?"

Ozpin gave a sympathetic look. "Nope. Ours is next week."

Tai stuffed his hands into his pocket and his shoulders slumped. "Sometimes I hate being a teacher." Dejected, he shuffled past Qrow and Ruby. "C'mon. Let's at least go out the doors together."

Ruby was quick to follow. Qrow started after but stopped halfway to the door when he suddenly turned around. The lights were on in the hallway, Tai's complaining still audible from the office.

"Hey," he said. He kept his voice low so that the rest of the family would not hear him. "Don't screw this up, Oz. She's…" he trailed off, exhaustion apparent.

"A close family member, I know," Ozpin finished the sentence for him. "Don't worry. Everything will be just fine."

Qrow turned his back on Ozpin, making sure to shut the door after him. When they were gone, he was left to wonder just what it was he had seen in his vision. He couldn't guarantee that everything would "be just fine," but it was the most he could hope for.

-StrawberryMoon-

*Loose reference to The Wizard of Oz

** The combining form "Thalass/o" means sea, and the suffix -kinesis is "movement, motion." Together it would be the manipulation of the sea or a large body of water. There is also hydrokinesis, but that refers to fluids in general (does not have to be water) and usually works on a smaller scale. Sorry. I wrote this entire chapter in one sitting from midnight to seven in the morning.

End Notes: Some world building and a little mystery in this chapter. I would prefer to wait until Oscar's canonical Semblance is revealed, but whatever lol. No guarantees that Vol. 5 will include it.


End file.
